Top 10 Things You Might Not Know About INK

As we enter the last quarter of our 10th year (birthday celebration almost in the bag!) I thought it’d be fun to share with you 10 things you might not know about INK.

10. INK was conceived over one too many margaritas (or in retrospect, just the right amount!) on a fall night at Jorge’s on Hancock. (Sadly, Jorge’s closed in 2012 – the patio was breezy and the margaritas strong.)

9. Our first client is still our client today. We attribute that to our creativity (pick-up program anyone?) and massive knowledge of the subject (we love us some Bluetooth!). We also attribute it to number 8…

8. Our first employee, Blair Poloskey (AKA Jordan Hall – bet you didn’t know that) is still an INKer (VP and partner) today. She was also the most strenuously interviewed and tested applicant in our history, though Allison Glass would disagree.

7. We’ve had some awesome people pass through our doors. Most of them stay for quite some time – our average retention rate (not counting owners) is over 3 years. And while they sometimes move on, we are still so proud of our alums:

We once had an employee named JLo. She didn’t sing, but we still miss her so.

Our gazelle-like friend Beth has now run three marathons. We knew her when she didn’t do any of that craziness.

Glass, A. Glass – what kind of beer do you drink? (Interview question asked before we knew better.)

And we don’t speak of the last one. It hurts too much. Call me, maybe? 😉

6. Our company name is a throwback to when “ink” stood for coverage (in print, of course). Now we like to think it’s a bit retro. 😉

3. We gave everyone the opportunity to go to a conference of their choice this year for professional development. Did they pick PR conferences? Um, no – because we do a bad-ass job at that already. We had people check out ways to expand their creativity, ways to attack life head-on, new stuff happening in the start-up scene, and the Rice Owl has chosen to learn more about Big Data. #loveussometech

2. Life lessons we’ve learned along the way: Don’t speak with the words you write with – you will sound like a pompous ass; always take more than just your underwear to NYC; when exiting a plane, always take your belongings with you; watch that last step getting off the rental car shuttle – it’s a doozy.

1. We do work I’m proud of every day. I know that sounds a bit over the top, considering we don’t cure cancer or drill water wells or even create technology that makes people’s lives easier. Our clients, and our pro-bono projects, do all of those things, but what we do is a damn good job. Every day. We have an unmatched work ethic, a get-it-done creative spirit, and a zest for attacking the toughest (and even the not-so-tough, but perhaps tough-to-our-clients) communication problems. We excel at – and enjoy – what we do. Lucky ducks.